Baseball target



E. C. SHEARS.

BASEBALL TARGET. APPLICATION FILED JULY26, 1921.

' Patented May 30, 1922..

mu 7 I 17 ll/I/l/ Ill/77 IIVVENTOR EC. $145465 nmmmsys EDWARD GROSSMAN'SHEARS, OF PORTLAND, OREGON.

BASEBALL TARGET.

Anplication filed July 26, 1921..

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD C. SHEAns, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Portland, in the county of Multnomah and State of Oregon, have invented a new and Improved Baseball Target, of which the following is a description.

My invention relates to a target at which baseballs may be thrown and presenting an opening through which the ball may pass.

The general object of my invention is to provide a target of the indicated class comprising a body and a swingable target element thereon, having novel means appurte nant thereto to automatically restore the target to normal position and to limit the move ments of the target rearwardly in response to the ball and forwardly in the restoring of the target.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, it being understood. that the drawings are merely illustrative of one example of the invention.

Figure 1 is a front view of a baseball target embodying my invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical section thereof, indicated by the line 22, Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary rear view.

In carrying out my invention in accordance with the illustrated example, a body A is provided which in practice is in the form of a. grotesque head out out at its lower central portion. Pivotally hung on the head at the cut-out is a target element 11 here shown as provided with lateral hinge pins 12 held by hinge straps 13. The cut-out of the body extends laterally as at 14 at the lower portion and the target element 11 is laterally extended accordingly, the arrangement being such that the cut-out of the body and the target element define an opening grotesquely simulating at mouth, through which a baseball may pass. the opening being amplified with the swinging of the target element rearwardly when the target is struck by a ball.

On the target element 11 at the back is a strike plate 15 extending across the opening in the body and having a width to present stop extensions 15 overlapping the rear surface of the body to limit the forward swinging movement of the target ele- IIlGIlt. On the target element also at the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 30, 1922.

Serial No. 487,628.

back is a stop element 16 disposed in a plane at right angles to the general plane of the target and projecting below the pivotal axis of the target element to contact with the body at a side of the cut-out for limiting the rearward swinging movement of the target when struck by the ball, the arrangement insuring the stop action and e1nbodying strength to withstand the shock of impact against the body.

The lower front portion of the target element 11, that is to say, forward of the pivotal axis is overbalanced tending to maintain the target element in the plane of the body at the cut-out and serving to restore the target element after it has been struck and swung rearwardly.

I would state in conclusion that while the illustrated example constitutes a practical embodiment of my invention, I do not limit myself strictly to the mechanical details hereinillustrated, since manifestly the same can be considerably varied without departure from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A baseball target structure comprising a body having a cut-out therein, and a target element pivotally hung on said body at said cut-out and partly filling the latter so that the cut-out of the body and the swingable element jointly present an opening through which a ball may pass, said target element having a stop member extending laterally to overlap the rear surface of the body above the pivotal center of the target element to limit the forward swinging movement of the latter and determine its normal position, the lower portion of said target element being overbalanced to maintain said element normally in the plane of the body, and a second stop element on said target element at the back below the pivotal axis and over, lapping the rear surface of the body to limit the rearward swinging movement of the target element.

2. A baseball target structure comprising a body simulating a head and having a cutout at the lower portion, a swingable target element mounted in said cut-out and forming with the body an opening simulating the mouth of the structure, through which opening a ball may pass, the body at said outout being undercut laterally at both sides and said swingable target element being 1am erally extended accordingly to affordan in the top extending across the mouth open ing, the target element presenting stops limiting the rearward and forward swinging 10 movement of said element and being overbalanced to restore the target after a rearward swlnglng' movement when struck.

EDWARD CROSSMAN SHEARS. 

